ADDIS ABABA UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES

INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

SCHOOL OF MECHANICAL AND INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING

Influence of rail vehicle parameters on ride behavior

(Parametric Analysis)

A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate School of Addis Ababa University in Partial Fulfillment of
the Requirements for the Degree of Masters of Science
in
Mechanical Engineering
(Railway Engineering)

FISEHA MENGISTEAB

Advisors:

ZEWDU ABDI (Dr.-Ing)

TOLOSSA DEBERIE (M.Sc.)

August, 2014
Acknowledgments

Conducting of this thesis research from thesis proposal preparation, data collection,
and to the final write up of the thesis could have not been fruitful if it were not for a
generous assistance of individuals, institutions and numerous researchers who have
made contributions to the literatures in this field. The researcher is extremely indebted
to advisors Dr.Ing Zewdu Abdi and ato Tolossa Deberie for their willingness to
supervise the research. In addition, encouragement, guidance, valuable comments and
supply of necessary materials and information during all stages of the work that were
freely rendered by them are greatly appreciated. So the researcher would like to
extend deepest gratitude to them for their continuous technical support and
commitment throughout the research. Without the encouragement, insight and
guidance of the advisors, the completion of this work would have not been possible.
Thanks are also due to Addis Ababa institute of technology and Ethiopian Railways
Corporation.

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Abstract

This paper presents parametric analysis study of the influence of rail vehicle
parameters on vertical and lateral ride behavior. Vehicle parameters such as bogie
wheel base, primary and secondary suspension parameters, car body mass, car body
yaw, pitch and roll mass moment of inertias are studied by varying from -25% to
+25% of their original values. The analysis was conducted by modeling and
simulating 41 degrees of freedom passenger rail vehicle using SIMPACK, multibody
dynamics simulation software. The considered vehicle was a conventional rail vehicle
with typical measured rail irregularities from SMPACK model data base. The analysis
results indicate that increase in car body parameters, suspension parameters and wheel
base in the critical frequency zone, i.e. 0.5-2Hz and 5-10Hz according to ISO 2631,
resulted in improved vertical and lateral ride behaviors. Moreover, it is seen from the
parametric analysis that car body mass, secondary suspension vertical damping,
primary suspension vertical damping and wheel base are the most sensitive
parameters influencing vertical ride. While lateral ride is significantly influenced by
car body mass, roll & yaw mass moment of inertia and secondary suspension lateral
stiffness. The study will give vital information to designers in optimization of rail
vehicles.

Keywords: Parametric analysis; Vertical ride; Lateral ride; Ride comfort, Ride
behavior

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgement ii

Abstract iii

Chapter 1: Introduction 1
1.1. Background 1
1.2. Significance of the research 2
1.3. Objective, scope and limitations of the study 3
1.4. Organization of the paper 5

Chapter 2: Literature review 6

2.1. Theoretical review 6
2.1.1. Multibody system dynamics 6
2.1.2. Computer implementation and tool 8
2.1.3. Rail way systems and ride behavior 9
2.1.4. Modeling and simulation using SIMPACK 11
2.1.5. Human body sensitivity to car body accelerations 15
2.2. Review of related research works 16
2.2.1. Introduction 16
2.2.2. Summary 19
2.2.3. Research gaps and conclusion 20

Chapter 3: Materials and methods 21

3.1. Materials 21
3.2. Simulation conditions 21
3.3. Methods 22
3.3.1. Modeling 23
3.3.1.1.Physical model 23
3.3.1.2.Kinematic model 24
3.3.1.3.Vehicle track interaction model 26
3.3.1.4.Parameter variation 28
3.3.2. Analysis 28
3.3.2.1.Time integration 28
3.3.3. Post processing 29
3.3.3.1.Filtering 29
3.3.3.2.Results 29
Chapter 4: Results and discussions 30
4.1. Results 30
4.1.1. Validation of simulation results 33
4.1.2. Limitations of the comparison 34
4.2. Discussions 35
4.2.1. Influence of car body parameters on ride behavior 36
4.2.2. Influence of secondary suspension parameters on ride behavior 40
4.2.3. Influence of primary suspension parameters on ride behavior 44
4.2.4. Influence of bogie wheel base on ride behavior 48

Chapter 5: Conclusions and future works 49

5.1. Conclusions 49
5.2. Future works 50

References 51

Appendices 54

Appendix A. Vehicle design data 54

A.1 Rail vehicle 54
A.2 Conventional bogie 54

Appendix B. Track data 58

B.1 Rail excitation 58

Appendix C. Wheel rail data 59

C.1 Rail 59
C.2 Wheel 60
C.3 Wheel rail contact data 61

Appendix D. Parametric analysis results 62

Chapter 1

Introduction

1.1. Background

Transportation performance indices such as speed, ride quality, capacity, transportation

cost etc. are competition parameters among and within transportation modes. In order to
be competitive and successful in transportation services thus rail operators are
demanding and expending a lot of expenditure in design, research and development of
high performance rail vehicles. Rail transportation has been the most demanded
transportation offering better safety, speed and comfort. In parallel with implementation
of new technologies, the cruising speed has also increased, with reliable safety and
better ride comfort. Traffic road block, huge mass transportation and so on bring a good
opportunity for rail industries to attract more and more passengers and cargos to their
services. In addition to safety, the other important issue for passengers to decide about
transportation type is ride comfort during their journey.
The effect of vibration caused by rail disturbances on vehicle car body and passengers
are more important in high cruising speeds. Hence, safe and comfortable transportation
of passengers and goods under high speeds has become an important engineering
problem to solve.
Various studies have been performed on rail vehicle dynamics and rail vehicle system
vibrations in the last decades. The studies generally focused on dynamic modeling of
rail vehicle systems such as rail–sleeper–ballast models and bridge–rail–vehicle
interactions. In addition, some researchers dealt with rail vehicle dynamics and effect of
rail disturbances on multi-body modeling of rail way vehicles. Furthermore, there are
some researches which dealt with experimental and analytical ride comfort evaluation
of railway coaches, methods for reducing vertical car body vibrations of rail vehicles,
improvement of passengers ride comfort in rail vehicles etc.

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The methods presented in the literatures were two dimensional mathematical modeling
of rail way vehicle systems formulated using Lagrangian equation of motion and
multibody system dynamics approach and implemented using user developed
mathematical models and solution algorithms. But the researches had some limits that
reduce their suitability in a reliable and efficient simulation of the dynamics of a rail
way system, because they are based on arbitrary and simplified assumptions, such as:
 assigning an arbitrary excitation
 neglecting non linear behaviors
 not considering all the degrees of freedom of the system
 not considering all inputs which are in real world, such as: wind, traction,
braking etc.
In addition, there are research gaps in addressing the contribution of each component of
the track vehicle parameters on rail vehicle dynamics and ride behavior.

1.2. Significance of the research

Performance of a rail vehicle depends on its dynamic behavior and dynamics of rail
vehicles involve coupled motion of each of the track vehicle system components;
therefore, it is affected by the design of all track vehicle system components. Hence;
modeling and simulation in the field of rail way dynamics is a complex inter
disciplinary topic with necessity for the enhancement of the performance of the rail way
vehicles and obtaining more safety and comfort conditions which lead to more complex
definition and description for all parameters affecting the modeling and simulation of
railway track vehicle system.
Car body peak accelerations are one cause of discomfort in passenger rail vehicles and
the accelerations are, mainly caused by track irregularities, transmitted up to the car
body via bogies, therefore; to achieve good ride comfort these accelerations have to be
suppressed. To improve ride comfort it is important to have better understanding on
vehicle track parameters influencing ride behavior which needs conducting parametric
analysis of track vehicle parameters on ride behavior which provides to rail vehicle
designers vital information regarding the extent to which each parameter influences the

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acceleration response of the vehicle. This information can also be utilized to arrive at a
suitable combination of the design parameters which can aid in keeping the peak value
of accelerations within the standard comfort boundaries which results in an improved
ride. Therefore; parametric analysis of rail vehicle parameters influencing ride behavior
using efficient and validated multibody system simulation software simulates closely
the real world rail vehicle system dynamics and gives better input for understanding and
design of rail vehicles at low cost.

1.3. Objective, scope and limitations of the study

a) General objective
The primary aim of this research was to conduct parametric analysis of a passenger rail
vehicle parameters influence on ride behavior, mainly car body acceleration, using
SIMPACK multibody simulation software, i.e. a passenger rail car was modeled and
simulated for constant velocity of 25m/s over straight track of length 10Km using
SIMPACK software to get car body vertical and lateral accelerations. In addition, rail
vehicle parameters such as car body mass, car body mass moment of inertias, primary
suspension, secondary suspension and wheel base were varied to study the influence of
each parameter on lateral and vertical car body accelerations.

b) Specific objectives
The specific objectives of the study were:
 Study multi-body system dynamics software, SIMPACK
 Model a two bogie passenger rail vehicle using SIMPACK
 Simulate the vehicle using a constant velocity of 25m/s over a straight track of length
10Km using SIMPACK software
 Examine software simulation results, i.e. car body lateral and vertical accelerations
and validate them with experimental results
 Conduct parametric analysis by varying rail vehicle parameters and study the
influence of each parameter on car body lateral and vertical accelerations

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c) Scope
The scope of the current study was conducting parametric analysis of a passenger rail
vehicle by modeling the vehicle and conducting parametric analysis using SIMPACK
software to examine rail vehicle parameters influence on car body vertical and lateral
accelerations. The vehicle was simulated using a constant velocity of 25m/s on a rigid
straight track of length 10Km and the vehicle parameters varied during the study are:
 bogie wheel base
 vertical & lateral stiffness values of primary and secondary suspensions
 vertical & lateral damping coefficients of primary and secondary suspensions
 car body mass, pitch (Iyy), roll (Ixx) and yaw (Izz) moments of inertias

d) Limitations
Due to lack of sufficient data, limitations of the current study are:
 The rail vehicle model used in the simulation study comprises a rigid car body, i.e.
car body flexibility was not considered in the current study but it does influence rail
vehicle dynamics and it is another engineering problem which needs to be solved
 Track flexibility and mass were not considered in the current study but they do
influence rail vehicle dynamics; therefore, the effect of such track parameters on rail
vehicle dynamic behavior is another engineering problem which needs to be studied.
 Track geometry, such as horizontal and vertical curves, gauge profile etc., was not
considered in the current study but it does influence rail vehicle dynamics; therefore,
influence of track geometry on ride behavior is another engineering problem which
needs to be studied.
 Effect of wind, traction and braking were not considered in the current study but they
do influence rail vehicle dynamics so incorporating traction and braking in rail
vehicle dynamics analysis results in better simulation results.
 All wheel profiles were considered identical from left to right on a given axle and
from axle to axle and all wheels remains in contact with the rails as well as no wheel
flats was considered but in practice all wheel profiles are not identical, there are
wheel lifts and wheel flats which influence ride dynamics; hence, consideration of
such things will give better result.

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1.4. Organization of the paper

The thesis report comprises 5 chapters and the remainder of the thesis is organized as
follows. Chapter 2 presents review of related research works done and theoretical
literatures relevant for the study such as:
 multibody system dynamics, rail vehicle dynamics modeling and simulation
 ride behavior of rail vehicles
 ride sensitivity of human body to car body accelerations at different frequencies
In chapter 3, the research methodology such as materials, methods and simulation
condition are presented. Chapter 4 presents results of the analysis and discussion of the
analysis results. Moreover, the study is summarized in chapter 5 by presenting
conclusions, and future work directions. Finally, the detail of the data used for the study
such as rail vehicle design data, track design data and wheel rail data as well as analysis
results are presented in the appendix section.

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Chapter 2

Literature review

2.1. Theoretical review

This section presents review of materials relevant for the study such as:
 multibody system dynamics, rail vehicle dynamics modeling and simulation
 ride behavior of rail vehicles
 ride sensitivity of human body to car body accelerations at different frequencies

2.1.1. Multibody system and dynamic analysis

Multibody dynamics is based on classical mechanics and has a long and detailed history.
The simplest multibody system is a free particle which can be treated by Newton’s
equations. D’Alembert considered a system of constrained rigid bodies where he
distinguished between applied and reaction forces. A systematic analysis of constrained
mechanical systems was established by Lagrange. Modern methods for the dynamic
analysis of constrained multibody systems fall into two main categories: differential
algebraic equations (DAEs) and ordinary differential equations (ODEs) [15]. DAEs
employ a maximal set of variable to describe the motion of the system and use multipliers
to model the constraint forces. Pre-multiplying the constraint reaction-induced dynamic
equations by orthogonal complement matrix to the constraint Jacobian results in the
governing equations as ODEs.
A Multibody system is a system which is an assembly of two or more rigid or flexible
bodies (also called elements) imperfectly joined together, having the possibility of
relative movement between them. This imperfect joining of the two rigid bodies that
makes up a multibody system is called a kinematic pair or joint, or simply a joint. A joint
permits certain degrees of freedom of relative motion and prevents or restricts others.

6
Usually the elements of a multibody system are linked by means of joints. At times, the
elements do not have direct contact with one another but rather are interrelated via force
transmission elements, such as springs, and shock absorbers or dampers.
Mechanical systems which are comprised of several flexible and rigid interconnected
bodies can be modeled as multibody systems. A multi body system simulation describes
the dynamic behavior and interaction between the bodies. These simulations can vary
from a simple Newtonian particle or a simple rigid body to several flexible complicated
elements like aircrafts, automobiles, trains etc. [7, 12, 13 and 14].
Multibody system (MBS) dynamics studies the motion of mechanical systems composed
of several rigid or flexible bodies interconnected by joints and subjected to internal or
external forces and torques. Those forces can result from both passive elements such as
springs, or active components such as electromechanical actuators.
The calculation of the body motion is one of the principal objectives of the dynamic
analysis. This type of analysis also provides a process to estimate external forces which
depends on the relative position between system components, such as those generated by
springs, dampers and actuators. Also external forces which generated as a consequence of
the system interaction with the surrounding environment, such as contact and friction
forces, are considered. Another significant result provided by this type of analysis, is the
calculation of the internal reaction forces, generated in the kinematic pairs.
The first step in many multibody problems consists in describing the system topology in a
suitable way for mathematical analysis. The main components of a multibody system are:
 the bodies, characterized by their mass, center of mass location and inertia tensor
 the joints that determine the relative motion between two bodies or between a
body and the inertial frame
Several formalisms have been developed so as to automatically obtain the equations of
motion of any multibody system. The most basic one relies directly on the Newton-Euler
equations. The so called recursive Newton-Euler algorithm allows reducing the
computational efforts when relative coordinates are used. The equations can also be
obtained by using the virtual power (or work) principle or by using Lagrange's equations,
which consider the system at the energy level.Whatever the formalism, the equation of
motion of a multibody system are generally presented in the following form [1, 7, 13]:

7
Therefore, multibody dynamics generally implies a set of differential algebraic equations
(DAEs), which requires special care to be time integrated.
Dynamic simulation means integration of the resulting linear or nonlinear ODEs or DAEs
to obtain the motion trajectories of the rigid bodies given the inertial properties and the
non-contact external loads (forces and moments). In this context, computing the contact
forces and the accelerations becomes the central goal in the dynamic simulation problem.

2.1.2. Computer implementation and tool

Various techniques and formulations have led to the implementation of various computer
tools and software. Regarding commercial or industrial software, the most used are
ADAMS produced by MSC Software, SIMPACK developed at first by the German
aerospace agency DLR and LMS Virtual Lab Motion. SIMPACK software is one of the
most used by the railway industry. SIMPACK relies on relative coordinates and on a
numerical generation of the equation of motion. It provides a joint library that contains
conventional elements such as simple revolute joints, prismatic joints, universal joints,
etc., and specific features to deal with railway vehicles. Concerning time integration,
SIMPACK provides classical ODEs integrators for unconstrained system and especially
developed DAEs solvers for systems implying algebraic constraints [3, 6].

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2.1.3. Rail way systems and ride behavior

A rail vehicle often consists of a car body supported by two sets of running gear. In
former passenger vehicles and still partly today's freight vehicles, the car body was only
supported by single-axle running gear. Modern freight and passenger rail vehicles, in
particular for fast or high-speed traffic, are mostly designed as bogie vehicles. The setup
of a typical bogie rail vehicle is shown schematically in Figure 2.1, including the
coordinate system of the car body and associated motion components. Note that the
positive vertical direction is pointing downwards according to International Union of
Railways UIC. The vehicle consists of a car body supported by two bogies through
secondary suspension. Each bogie consists of a frame and two wheel sets, connected by
the primary suspension. Both the primary and secondary suspensions include spring and
damper components that vary depending on the vehicle type. Examples of such
suspension elements are air springs, coil springs, rubber springs and hydraulic dampers.
The type of component is dependent on the vehicle operational task and the desired
suspension characteristics. Furthermore; the suspensions include bump stops, delimiting
the suspension motions in the vertical and lateral directions.

9
The force transmission in the longitudinal direction is usually achieved by traction rods.
The secondary suspension is often also equipped with one anti roll bar per bogie to
counteract the roll motion of the car body. The concept of a bogie vehicle follows the
idea of decoupling the car body from the dynamics of the bogies and thus enhancing the
running behavior of the carbody.
The railway track, the vehicle is running on, has a nominal geometry which is among
other things defined by the lateral distance between the two rails, i.e. the gauge. The
track, however, is never in perfect condition, but includes deviations from the nominal
track geometry, which are also known as track irregularities. These imperfections affect
the running dynamics of the vehicle. They influence the motions of the vehicle due to
excitations of the wheel sets and generally have great impact on the wheel-rail forces and
ride behavior. The ride behavior of rail vehicles is a complex concept, representing an
essential element in the analysis of the railway vehicle dynamics and needs to be
considered when modeling and evaluating them. Besides other factors, the ride quality
primarily depends on the vibration behavior to which the vehicle is subjected.

10
Moreover; the dynamic behavior of railway vehicles depends on the motion or vibration
of all the parts of the vehicle track system and is; therefore, influenced by the vehicle
track system design and operating conditions [3].

2.1.4. Modeling and simulation using SIMPACK

The SIMPACK software package is a multibody system mechanical design tool which
assists engineers to model, simulate, analyze and design complex mechanical systems,
such as vehicles, robots, machines and mechanisms. The software also allows the
inclusion of electrical, hydraulic and pneumatic elements. It is also able to analyze
vibrational behavior, calculate forces and accelerations as well as describe and predict the
motion of multi-body systems.The basic concept of SIMPACK is to create the equations
of motion for mechanical and mechatronic systems and then from these equations, apply
various different mathematical procedures to produce a solution (e.g. time integration).
The SIMPACK model is built up using the SIMPACK modeling elements. SIMPACK
will then automatically generate the system equations from this model. The equations of
motion can be generated both symbolically and numerically (where the numeric form is
the usual form). The software has a comprehensive range of modeling and calculation
features, together with a user interface well adapted to an engineer’s needs.
The purpose of the software is to improve the design process involving multi-body
systems. With the help of SIMPACK it is possible to reduce lead times and optimize the
design process. More purposes that can be reached with SIMPACK are:

 Optimization of design parameters also in relation to the dynamic behavior

 Calculation of dynamically interacting forces within critical components
 Effect of varying design parameters
 Analyzing weak points of the mechanical design

From the initial concept stage to the point where SIMPACK has presented the results,
there are six steps. The first three steps are performed outside SIMPACK. They are as
follows:

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1. Problem definition
 Physical system is defined

Figure 2.2: Rail way vehicle as an example of a physical system [15]

2. Development of a mechanical model

 Mechanical structure is divided into bodies and joints, the interconnecting

structures
 Constraints are then defined, which constrains the mobility of the elements by
removing degrees of freedom
 Forces in between the ground and the bodies are defined

3. Provision of the physical parameters for the model

 The physical parameters for the model such as the mass, moments of inertia
and center of mass for various different bodies are defined
 The geometry of the structure and how it fits together are defined; i.e. the
distances in between coupling points
 The parameters for the coupling elements are defined, such as the force
element values and constraints

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 Figure 2.3: Mechanical model - rail vehicle [16]

4. Pre-processing
Input the data set, obtained from steps 1-3, with the help of the SIMPACK user
interface
 The physical model i.e. bodies and joints
 All the input functions for the model including the constraints, forces and
excitation functions
 The associated 3D geometrical data for the graphical representation of the
bodies
 The numerical calculation settings
 The settings for the output quantities
 The settings for the optimization and parameter variation

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5. Problem Solution
SIMPACK Calculations: Generation and solution of the motion governing differential
equations. The differential equations are generated from the data entered in the
previous steps and then solved within SIMPACK.

6. Post-processing: Presentation of the results

SIMPACK can present the results in any of the following forms:
 User determined plots such as load indices or limiting values
 2D line plots
 SIMPACK contains various different mathematical algorithms, i.e. Fast
Fourier Transforms which can be used to process the results of SIMPACK’s
calculations
 3D animation of the model
 Export to Microsoft Excel and MATLAB

Figure 2.4: 2D Line Plot (vertical acceleration of car body)

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2.1.5. Human body sensitivity to car body vibrations

The human body is both physically and biologically a system of an extremely complex
nature. When looked upon as a mechanical system it can be considered to contain a
number of linear as well as non-linear elements, and the mechanical properties are quite
different from person to person. Biologically the situation is by no means simpler,
especially when psychological effects are included. In considering the response of man to
vibrations and shocks it is necessary, however, to take into account both mechanical and
psychological effects.
Car body vibrations influence the human body in many different ways. The response to a
vibration exposure is primarily dependent on the frequency, amplitude, and duration of
exposure. Other factors may include the direction of vibration input, location and mass of
different body segments, level of fatigue and the presence of external support. The human
response to vibration can be both mechanical and psychological. Mechanical damage to
human tissue can occur, which are caused by resonance within various organ systems.
Psychological stress reactions also occur from vibrations; however, they are not
necessarily frequently related. From an exposure point of view, the low frequency range
of vibration is the most interesting. Exposure to vertical vibrations in the 5-10 Hz range
generally causes resonance in the thoracic abdominal system. When vibrations are
attenuated in the body, its energy is absorbed by the tissue and organs. The amount of
mechanical energy transmission due to vibrations is dependent on the body position and
muscle contractions. In standing subject, the first resonance occurs at the hip, shoulder,
and head at about 5Hz. With subjects sitting, resonance occurs at the shoulders and to
some degree at the head at 5 Hz. Based on psychological studies, observations indicated
that the general state of consciousness is influenced by vibrations. Low frequency
vibrations 1-2 Hz with moderate intensities induce sleep.
Generally, according to ISO 2631 ride comfort evaluation, human bodies are considered
to be most sensitive to frequency ranges 0.5 – 2 Hz in horizontal direction and 4 – 10 Hz
in vertical direction [3, 14].

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2.2. Review of researches related to the current study

2.2.1. Introduction
The ride comfort is a complex concept, representing an essential element in the analysis
of the railway vehicle dynamics and needs to be considered when modeling and
evaluating its behavior. Besides other factors, the ride comfort primarily depends on the
vibration behavior to which the vehicle is subjected. The dynamic behavior of railway
vehicles relates to the motion or vibration of all the parts of the vehicle track system and
is; therefore, influenced by the vehicle track system design and operating conditions [3].
The dynamic performance of a rail vehicle as related to safety and comfort is evaluated in
terms of specific performance indices. The quantitative measure of ride quality is one of
such performance indices. Ride quality is interpreted as the capability of the rail road
vehicle suspension to maintain the motion within the range of human comfort and or
within the range necessary to ensure that there is no damage to the cargo it carries. The
ride quality of a vehicle depends on displacement, acceleration, rate of change of
acceleration and other factors like noise, dust, humidity and temperature. Ride comfort
implies that the vehicle is being assessed according to the effect of the mechanical
vibrations on the human body, whereas ride quality implies that the vehicle itself is being
judged [4, 10].

In rail vehicles, air springs are very important isolating component, which guarantee good
ride comfort for passengers during their trip [8]. As the performance of suspension
components have significant effects on rail–vehicle dynamics and ride comfort of
passengers, a complete nonlinear thermo dynamical air spring model, which is a
combination of two different models, was introduced. To simulate dynamic behavior of
air spring, a model was developed in Matlab/Simulink software. For evaluating
performance of the developed model, bogie side states were fixed to constant and
response of air spring to sinusoidal movement of carbody side states in vertical and
lateral directions were investigated. Result from field test showed remarkable agreement
between proposed model and experimental data. Effects of air suspension parameters on
the system performances were investigated here and then these parameters were tuned to

16
minimize Sperling ride comfort index during the trip. Results showed that by
modification of air suspension parameters, passengers comfort was improved and ride
comfort index was reduced by 10%.

In the study [9], a mathematical model of a railway carriage running on curved tracks was
constructed by deriving the equations of motion concerning the model in which single
point and two point wheel rail contacts were considered. The presented railway carriage
model comprises of front and rear simple conventional bogies with two leading and
trailing wheel sets attached to each bogie. The railway carriage was modeled by 31
degrees of freedom which govern vertical displacement, lateral displacement, roll angle
and yaw angle dynamic response of wheel set whereas vertical displacement, lateral
displacement, roll angle, pitch angle and yaw angle dynamic response of car body and
each of the two bogies. Computer aided-simulation was constructed to solve the
governing differential equations of the mathematical model using Runge Kutta fourth
order method. Principle of limit cycle and phase plane approach was applied to realize
the stability and evaluate the concerning critical hunting velocity at which railway
carriage starts to hunt. The numerical simulation model was used to study the influence
of vertical secondary suspension spring stiffness on the ride passenger comfort of railway
car body running with speeds under and at critical hunting velocity. High magnitudes of
vertical secondary spring stiffness suspension introduced undesirable roll and yaw
dynamic response which affect ride passenger comfort at critical hunting velocity.

A vertical model of metro vehicle which covers car body flexibility and all vertical rigid
modes was built [5], the influence of car body flexibility on ride quality and the coupled
vibration between the flexible metro vehicle car body and bogie bounce mode were
researched. In order to facilitate the research, this paper supposed the car body being
simplified as a uniform Euler-Bernoulli beam. Results showed that the higher the car
body stiffness is the lower the influences of car body flexibility would be on the ride
quality. For the model studied in this paper, the bogie bounce frequency was increased
with the rise of the primary suspension stiffness.

17
Safe and comfortable transportation of passengers and goods on railways can be achieved
by solving the vibration problem [2]. In this study, the dynamic modeling of the full
railway vehicle was used to perform vibration analysis in order to observe displacements
and accelerations. The full railway vehicle model consists of 54 degrees of freedom
which were defined by differential equations. Additionally, wheel rail contact problem
(i.e. creepage factors and Hertzian spring stiffness of rails) was analyzed by finite
element method. Dynamic modeling and vibration analysis were carried out using
Matlab/Simulink software. Using the developed model, the car body vibrations, caused
by a lateral and two vertical sinusoidal track irregularities, were controlled by fuzzy logic
controllers placed between the car body and bogies. The fuzzy logic algorithm here in
was used for realizing the active control of car body vibrations. The simulations of
vibration analysis were obtained in time and frequency domains and compared with
passive controlled status. The robustness of the designed controller was verified by
simulations, carried out for the cases of car body mass variations. The results showed the
effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.

This paper [6] investigated the effect of different models for track flexibility on the
simulation of railway vehicle running dynamics on tangent and curved track. To this end,
a multi body model of the rail vehicle was defined including track flexibility effects on
three levels of details: a perfectly rigid pair of rails, a sectional track model and a three
dimensional finite element track model. The influence of the track model on the
calculation of the nonlinear critical speed was pointed out and it was shown that
neglecting the effect of track flexibility resulted in an over estimation of the critical speed
by more than 10%. Vehicle response to stochastic excitation from track irregularity was
also investigated, analyzing the effect of track flexibility models on the vertical and
lateral wheel rail contact forces. Finally, the effect of the track model on the calculation
of dynamic forces produced by wheel out of roundness was analyzed, showing that peak
dynamic loads were very sensitive to the track model used in the simulation.

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This paper [11] presents the influence of rail vehicle parameters on vertical and lateral
ride behavior. The analysis considered coupled vertical-lateral 37 degrees of freedom
mathematical model of an Indian railway general sleeper ICF coach formulated using
Largangian dynamics. Both vertical and lateral irregularities of the railway track,
considered as random function of time were incorporated in the analysis. The ride
analysis of the mathematical model suggests that discomfort frequency range lies from 4
to10.5Hz and improvements in the design of rail vehicle coach are required for better ride
comfort in the specified frequency range. It was seen from parametric analysis that car
body mass, secondary suspension vertical damping, primary suspension vertical damping
and wheel base are the most sensitive parameters influencing vertical ride. While lateral
ride is significantly influenced by car body mass, roll &yaw mass moment of inertia and
secondary suspension lateral stiffness.

2.2.2. Summary

Various studies have been performed on rail vehicle dynamics and rail vehicle system
vibrations. The studies generally focused on dynamic modeling of rail vehicle systems
such as rail-sleeper-ballast models and bridge-rail-vehicle interactions. In addition, some
researchers dealt with the rail vehicle dynamics and the effects of the rail disturbances on
multibody modeling of railway vehicles. Furthermore, there were some researches which
dealt with experimental and analytical ride comfort evaluation of railway coaches,
methods for reducing vertical car body vibrations of rail vehicles, improvement of
passengers ride comfort in rail vehicles etc. The methods presented in the literatures were
two dimensional mathematical modeling of railway vehicle systems formulated using
Lagrangian dynamics and multibody system dynamics modeling approach. Modeling and
simulation were implemented using user developed mathematical models and solution
algorithms.

19
2.2.3. Research gaps and conclusion

The researches had some limits that reduce their suitability in a reliable and efficient
simulation of the dynamics of a railway vehicle system, because they are often based on
arbitrary assumptions, such as not considering all the degrees of freedom of the system,
and not incorporating all inputs which are in real world, such as wind, traction, braking
etc. as well as assigning an arbitrary excitations. In addition, there were research gaps in
addressing the contribution of each component of the track vehicle parameters on rail
vehicle dynamics and ride comfort. Therefore, parametric analysis of rail vehicle
parameters influencing vehicle dynamics using efficient and validated multibody system
simulation software can simulate closely the real world rail vehicle system dynamics and
will give better input for understanding and design of rail vehicles which is the
background for the current study, parametric analysis of rail vehicle parameters influence
on ride behavior using SIMPACK multibody system dynamics simulation software.

20
Chapter 3
Materials and methods

3.1. Materials

a) Rail vehicle
The study was conducted on a conventional passenger rail vehicle shown in figure 3.2.
The vehicle consists of a car body, two bogies and four wheel sets. Design data of the
vehicle are presented in appendix A.

b) Track
The vehicle was simulated on a rigid and straight standard gauge track of length 10e04m
with design characteristics of the track shown in appendix B.

c) Simulation tool
The study was based on computer simulations and analysis of rail vehicles using
SIMPACK 9.6 build 93 software. The software is developed at the German aerospace
research center (DLR) together with INTEC GmbH, with important practical
enhancements added to the software at MAN technology AG, Germany.

3.2. Simulation condition

The conditions for the simulation were straight and rigid track of length 10Km,
equilibrium position and a constant velocity along track, V = 25m/s as well as the
following assumptions:

 Bogie and car body component masses were considered to be rigid

 Friction did not exist between axle and bearing
 Constant vehicle velocity on rigid and constant gauge straight track
 All wheel profiles were considered to be identical from left to right on a given axle
and from axle to axle and all wheels remains in contact with the rails

21
 Bogie bolster was assumed as a car body’s integral part i.e. combined with its mass
 Axle box was assumed as a wheel set’s integral part, hence its weight was combined
with the wheel set’s mass

3.3. Methods
The procedure of the simulation analysis study in the SIMPACK software is shown in
figure 3.1 below.

Input
• Track and vehicle design data
• Initial condition
• Operating condition
• Assumptions

Modeling
• Track
• Vehicle
• Vehicle track interaction
• Parameter variation

Analysis
• Time integration

Post processing
• Filtering
• Integration statistics
• Plotting
• Animation

Figure 3.1: Flow chart of the simulation procedure

22
3.3.1. Modeling

3.3.1.1. Physical model

Using the input data the rail vehicle was modeled in SIMPACK preprocessor. The
vehicle is 41 degrees of freedom (DOF) and the physical model of the vehicle is shown
below.

a) Physical model of the bogie using SIMPACK

b) Physical model of the rail vehicle using SIMPACK

Figure 3.2: Model of rail vehicle using SIMPACK a) Bogie, b) Rail vehicle

23
3.3.1.2. Kinematic model
Motion of bodies is described by their kinematic behavior, and dynamic behavior results from the
equilibrium of applied forces and rate of change of momentum. The kinematic model of the rail
vehicle using SIMPACK is given in figure 3.3. Kinematic connections between bodies or a body
and a reference system are made by means of joints or constraints.

Figure 3.3: a) Car body to reference frame, and to front & rear bogies kinematic
connection

Figure 3.3: a is the kinematic model of the rail vehicle which shows the kinematic
interaction of the car body with the inertia fixed reference frame, rear and front bogies
$S_Rear and $S_Front, respectively. The detail of the kinematic model of figure 3.3: a is
briefly described as follows:
 $B_Carbody is the rigid car body which is connected to rear and front bogie
bolsters with zero degree of freedom joint (0 DOF joint )
 $S_Rear and $S_Front are, the rear and front bogies of the rail vehicle
respectively, connected to car body at their respective bolsters with zero degree of
freedom joints

24
 The joint between the car body and the inertia fixed reference system is type 9
SIMPACK joint which is a rheonomic rail track joint. This joint prescribes the
movement of a rail vehicle component along a track in space. Other directions
than the movement along the track are free. This type of joint is used in
prescribing a constant speed or a speed profile to a car body of a rail vehicle or to
a traction body for pushing or pulling a rail vehicle
 Wheel sets and bogie frames of front and rear bogies are connected to the inertia
fixed reference frame using type 7 SIMPACK joint. This joint describes the
movement of the main components of a rail vehicle along a track in space and it is
the standard joint for wheel sets, bogie frames and car body of rail vehicles. Type
7 joint is a general rail track joint with 6 degrees of freedom which is similar to
type 9 joint but the position along the track is free.

Figure 3.3: b) Kinematic connection of bogie components

25
Figure 3.3: b shows the kinematic connection of bogie components and the description of
the kinematic connection is as follows:
 The bolster of a bogie is connected to the car body using zero degree of freedom
joint (0 DOF joint)
 Bolster of a bogie is connected to a bogie frame by force element 5 to model
bump stop
 Secondary anti roll bar is modeled by force element 13 which connects bolster to
bogie frame
 Traction rod spring is modeled by force element type 1 which connects bolster to
bogie frame
 Force elements type 6 which connect bolster to bogie frame are models of traction
rod damper, vertical and lateral secondary dampers
 Secondary springs are modeled by force element type 79 which connect bolster to
bogie frame
 Primary dampers are modeled by force elements type 6 that connect bogie frame
to wheel set
 Primary springs are modeled by force element type 86 which connect bogie
frame to wheel set

3.3.1.3. Vehicle track interaction model

Vehicle rail contact was modeled using the contact data of appendix C.3 and the physical
and kinematic models are shown in figure 3.4. The applied contact theories are:
 Contact normal force: Hertzian
 Creep force: Kalker’s FASTSIM algorithm

Figure 3.4 shows wheel rail kinematic connection and it is described as follows:
 Wheel rail interaction is modeled by force element 78, rail wheel interface force
element. This force element provides the contact calculation between rail and
wheel and all parameters of the rail wheel contact are controlled by the rail wheel
pair. This type of force element is used to model rail vehicles and similar guided
vehicles.

26
 The joint between wheel set and the reference frame is modeled by general rail
track joint type 7.

a) Wheel rail contact physical model

b) Wheel set kinematic connection

Figure 3.4: Wheel rail interaction model using SIMPACK

27
3.3.1.4. Parameter variation
To assess behavior of the vehicle for broad parameter ranges and to evaluate sensitivity
of the model against parameter changes the vehicle was simulated by varying one
parameter at a time and the individual effect of each parameter on ride behavior was
studied. The passenger track vehicle model of figure 3.2 was used to study and analyze
railway vehicle ride behavior under a given track and speed profile.
Parametric analysis was conducted by running the vehicle on a rigid straight track of
length 10Km using a constant velocity of 25m/s along the track. The rail vehicle
parameters were allowed to vary from -25% to +25% of their original values and the
parameters are:
 Mass of car body
 Mass moment of inertias of car body (Ixx, Iyy and Izz)
 Primary spring stiffness values
 Secondary spring stiffness values
 Primary dampers damping coefficients
 Secondary dampers damping coefficients
 Bogie wheel base – center to center distance of wheel sets in a bogie

3.3.2. Analysis

3.3.2.1. Time integration

SIMPACK solvers convert the modeling elements and model structure into a set of
nonlinear ordinary differential equations (ODE). Models containing Constraints and/or
algebraic states require an additional set of algebraic equations. The complete set of
equations is then called differential algebraic equations (DAE). Dynamic behavior of the
vehicle was calculated using time integration solver of SIMPACK on a straight track in
time domain. The initial conditions for the simulation were the equilibrium position and
velocity along track v = 25m/s. The time integration solver determines the complete
behavior of the fully nonlinear model in time domain by solving the full set of nonlinear
equations of motion.

28
3.3.3. Post processing

3.3.3.1. Filtering
Filters modify, during post processing, data signals in various ways, connect them or
generate specific results from them. To find characteristic frequencies and to create a
bode like plot from a time integration simulation the filter 106 spectrum is applied to the
time integration simulation of the rail vehicle. To transform it from time domain into
frequency domain; the filter calculates different types of spectra from an input signal by
transforming it into frequency domain. The filter uses the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT)
algorithm. The input signal is usually in time or distance domain, the resulting spectrum
is in frequency domain. The chosen parameters list of the 106 spectrum is shown below:

 Output type: Power Spectral Density (PSD)

 Window function: Hann (von Hann, Hanning)
 Window Function Periodicity: Periodic
 Averaging Window Length Mode: Set frequency spacing
 Desired Frequency Spacing: 0.1
 Window Overlapping: 0.25
 Averaging/Peak Hold: Arithmetic averaging
 Sides: Two-sided
 Free factor alpha: 1
 Last Value of Input Signal: Remove last value

3.3.3.2. Results
The processed data can be generated in 2D plots, 3D plots, and 3D animations along with
integration settings and integration statistics.

29
Chapter 4

Results and discussions

4.1. Results
Vertical and lateral accelerations of the car body floor, above front bogie center, obtained
from computer simulation using SMPACK are shown in Figure 4.1. The rail vehicle was
simulated using the simulation condition on a straight standard track as discussed in
chapter 3.
The history of the integration solver is shown below:
 Integration setting
 Integration method: SODASRT 2
 Start time: 0
 End time: 350 s
 Min step size: 0
 Max step size: 0.1
 Initial step size: 1e-05
 Max order: 5
 Additional RHS evaluation: 0
 Integration statistics
 Stop time: 350 s
 Integration steps: 81154
 Mean step size: 0.004
 Min step size: 1e-05
 Max step size: 0.018
 Min order: 1
 Max order: 5
 RHS evaluations: 463827
 RHS evaluations without jacobian: 161640
 Jacobian evaluations: 5732

30
 Figure 4.1: a) Vertical acceleration of car body (time domain)

Figure 4.1: b) Lateral acceleration of car body (time domain)

31
Figure 4.1: c) Vertical acceleration of car body (frequency domain)

Figure 4.1: d) Lateral acceleration of car body (frequency domain)

32
4.1.1. Validation of simulation results

To validate the software simulation results, the simulated results were compared with
results obtained from acceleration measurements through actual testing. The results from
actual testing were obtained from Research Designs Standards Organization, Lucknow
[11]. The rail vehicle was moved at a constant speed of 80 km/hr over straight track. The
data acquisition was completed in two stages. In the first stage the record was obtained
for 2Km straight specimen run down track and the record was verified covering a long
run of about 25 Km in the second stage. A strain gauge accelerometer (Range: +1g &
+2g; Frequency response: 25Hz; Excitation: 5V AC/DC; Sensitivity: 360 mV/V/g;
Damping: silicon fluid) was placed at floor level near bogie pivot of the rail vehicle. The
acceleration data was recorded in time domain with National Instruments cards
(Sampling rate: 100 Samples/s, Resolution: 12 Bit) using Lab View software program
and the record was converted in frequency domain using Fast Fourier Transformations
(FFT).

Figure 4.2: PSD of vertical acceleration (in (m/s2)2/Hz) of car body from tests [11]

33
 Figure 4.3: PSD of lateral acceleration (in (m/s2)2/Hz) of car body from tests [11]

Power spectral densities of accelerations of car body obtained through actual testing in
vertical and lateral directions are shown in Figures 4.2 and 4.3 respectively. Software
simulation and experimental results compare reasonably well except that the peak values
are slightly different and obtained at slight different frequencies this is due to some limits
and the limitations of the comparison are presented below.

4.1.2. Limitations of the comparison

The limitations of software simulation and experimental tests that are affecting the
comparison are as follows:
 The car body in modeling was assumed as a rigid body discounting the influence of
flexible structure
 Braking system, and other systems were not incorporated in modeling and simulation
 The mass of the track was not considered to any of assigned degree of freedom
 In actual testing the sensor for acceleration measurements was placed at floor level of
bogie pivot but in simulations the acceleration was determined at car body floor just
above a bogie center

34
 The effect of wind drag forces were not considered in the present analysis. In actual
the wind forces from longitudinal and lateral directions significantly affect the
dynamics of rail vehicle system
 It is also possible that there may be a time gap between random inputs measurements
of track and acceleration measurements of vehicle as a result of which the track
profile may have been changed
 The track irregularities considered were not the same in both actual and simulation
 In practice, defects may occur with the passage of time such as wheel flats, defects in
the bearings of the wheel axle sets and other moving parts resulting in extra force
inputs

4.2. Discussions

The aim of this thesis is to study how the vertical and lateral accelerations of the rail
vehicle behave when a rail vehicle parameter is increased. The effect of each parameter
on ride behavior was analyzed by varying original values of vehicle parameters from -
25% to +25% [3, 11]. The detail of the parametric analysis results along with their
variation ranges are shown in appendix D. The analysis was conducted by taking three
points for each parameter i.e. -25%, original value and +25%. But, the discussion focuses
on the critical frequency range of human vibration sensitivity, i.e. 0.5-2Hz and 4-10Hz
for horizontal and vertical car body accelerations respectively, as the other frequencies do
not cause human discomfort due to vibration. Therefore, the ride behavior of the rail
vehicle is discussed only on critical frequency range of human body ride vibration
sensitivity and the discussion of the influence of vehicle parameters on ride behavior for
the frequency range of interest are presented below.

35
4.2.1. Influence of car body parameters on ride behavior

Figure 4.4: Parametric analysis results of car body mass

From the analysis result, car body mass affects both vertical and lateral car body
acceleration responses. Increased car body mass results in reduced magnitudes of vertical
and lateral car body accelerations in the critical frequency zones of interest.

36
Figure 4.5: Parametric analysis results of car body roll mass moment of inertia, Ixx

From the analysis results roll mass moment of inertia has negligible effect on vertical
acceleration values, but it affects the lateral acceleration values. The values of lateral
acceleration at the frequency range of interest are reduced with increase in roll mass
moment of inertia.

37
Figure 4.6: Parametric analysis results of car body pitch mass moment of inertia, Iyy

From the parametric analysis result of figure 4.6 it is shown that pitch mass moment of
inertia affects both vertical and lateral accelerations. But, increased pitch mass moment of
inertia from existing value results in reduced magnitudes of lateral and vertical car body
accelerations in the frequency regions of interest. However, the reduction is larger in the
vertical than the lateral one.

38
Figure 4.7: Parametric analysis results of car body yaw mass moment of inertia, Izz

Yaw mass moment of inertia has negligible effect on vertical values of car body
acceleration in the frequency range of interest, but it significantly affects the lateral car
body acceleration values in such a way that increased yaw mass moment of inertia from
existing value resulted in reduced magnitudes of lateral acceleration in the frequency
region of interest.

39
4.2.2. Influence of secondary suspension parameters on ride behavior
Secondary suspension parameters varied in the analysis were vertical and lateral values of
secondary springs and dampers, and the influence of each parameter is shown below.

Figure 4.8: Parametric analysis results of secondary spring lateral stiffness

variation

From the parametric analysis result, increased secondary suspension spring lateral
stiffness resulted in decreased amplitudes of lateral car body acceleration in the frequency
range of interest, so higher values from the existing values are preferred with respect to
lateral acceleration as the acceleration values are reduced in the frequency range of
interest. But increased secondary suspension lateral stiffness has no effect on vertical
acceleration in the frequency range of interest.

40
 Figure 4.9: Parametric analysis results of secondary spring vertical stiffness
variation

From the parametric analysis result, increased secondary suspension spring vertical
stiffness resulted in decreased amplitudes of vertical car body acceleration in the
frequency range of interest, so higher values from the existing values are preferred with
respect to vertical acceleration as the acceleration values are reduced in the frequency
range of interest. But increased secondary suspension spring vertical stiffness resulted in
negligible change in lateral acceleration, so secondary suspension vertical stiffness has no
effect on lateral acceleration in the frequency range of interest.

41
 Figure 4.10: Parametric analysis results of secondary damper lateral damping
variation

From the parametric analysis result, increased secondary suspension lateral damping
resulted in decreased amplitudes of lateral car body acceleration in the frequency range of
interest, so higher secondary suspension lateral damping coefficient values from the
existing value are preferred with respect to lateral acceleration as the acceleration values
are significantly reduced in the frequency region of interest. But increased secondary
suspension lateral damping does not change the amplitudes of vertical car body
acceleration in the frequency range of interest, so secondary suspension lateral damping
coefficient has negligible effect on vertical acceleration values.

42
 Figure 4.11: Parametric analysis results of secondary damper vertical damping
variation

From the parametric analysis result, increased secondary suspension vertical damping
resulted in decreased amplitudes of vertical car body acceleration in the frequency range
of interest, so higher secondary suspension vertical damping coefficient values from the
existing value are preferred with respect to vertical acceleration as the acceleration values
are significantly reduced in the frequency region of interest. But increased secondary
suspension vertical damping does not change the amplitudes of lateral car body
acceleration in the frequency range of interest, so secondary suspension vertical damping
coefficient has negligible effect on lateral acceleration values.

43
4.2.3. Influence of primary suspension parameters on ride behavior
Primary suspension parameters varied in the analysis were vertical and lateral values of
primary springs and dampers, and the influence of each parameter is shown below.

Figure 4.12: Parametric analysis results of primary spring lateral stiffness variation

From the parametric analysis result, increased primary suspension spring lateral stiffness
resulted in decreased amplitudes of lateral car body acceleration in the frequency range of
interest, so higher values from the existing values are preferred with respect to lateral
acceleration as the acceleration values are reduced in the frequency range of interest. But
increased primary suspension lateral stiffness has no effect on vertical acceleration in the
frequency range of interest.

44
 Figure 4.13: Parametric analysis results of primary spring vertical stiffness
variation

From the parametric analysis result, increased primary suspension spring vertical
stiffness resulted in decreased amplitudes of vertical car body acceleration in the
frequency range of interest, so higher values from the existing values are preferred with
respect to vertical acceleration as the acceleration values are reduced in the frequency
range of interest. But increased primary suspension spring vertical stiffness resulted in
negligible change in lateral acceleration, so secondary suspension vertical stiffness has no
effect on lateral acceleration in the frequency range of interest.

45
 Figure 4.14: Parametric analysis results of primary damper lateral damping
variation

From the parametric analysis result, increased primary suspension lateral damping
resulted in decreased amplitudes of lateral car body acceleration in the frequency range of
interest, so higher primary suspension lateral damping coefficient values from the
existing value are preferred with respect to lateral acceleration as the acceleration values
are significantly reduced in the frequency region of interest. But increased primary
suspension lateral damping does not change the amplitudes of vertical car body
acceleration in the frequency range of interest, so primary suspension lateral damping
coefficient has negligible effect on vertical acceleration values.

46
 Figure 4.15: Parametric analysis results of primary damper vertical damping
variation

From the parametric analysis result, increased primary suspension vertical damping
resulted in decreased amplitudes of vertical car body acceleration in the frequency range
of interest, so higher primary suspension vertical damping coefficient values from the
existing value are preferred with respect to vertical acceleration as the acceleration values
are significantly reduced in the frequency region of interest. But increased primary
suspension vertical damping does not change the amplitudes of lateral car body
acceleration in the frequency range of interest, so primary suspension vertical damping
coefficient has negligible effect on lateral acceleration values.

47
4.2.4. Influence of bogie frame wheel base on ride behavior
Bogie parameter varied in the analysis was bogie frame wheel base, and the influence of
the parameter is shown below.

Figure 4.16: Parametric analysis results of bogie wheel base

From the parametric analysis result, increased bogie wheel base resulted in decreased
amplitudes of vertical and lateral car body accelerations in the frequency range of
interest, so higher wheel base from the existing value is preferred with respect to vertical
and lateral accelerations as the acceleration values are reduced in the frequency region of
interest.

48
Chapter 5

Conclusions and future works

5.1. Conclusions

Parametric study was conducted on a passenger rail vehicle using SIMPACK multibody
simulation tool with prime objective of improvement in vertical and lateral ride of the
vehicle with in the frequency range of human ride sensitivity to vibration, i.e. 0.5-2Hz
and 5-10Hz for lateral and vertical ride respectively, and the following conclusions are
made from the simulation results:
 Increasing car body mass improves vertical & lateral ride
 Increasing car body roll mass moment of inertia improves lateral ride
 Increasing car body yaw mass moment of inertia improves lateral ride
 Increasing car body pitch mass moment of inertia improves vertical ride highly and
slightly lateral ride
 Increasing secondary suspension vertical stiffness improves greatly vertical ride and
slightly lateral ride
 Increasing secondary suspension lateral stiffness improves lateral ride
 Increasing secondary suspension lateral damping improves lateral ride
 Increasing secondary suspension vertical damping improves vertical ride
 Increasing primary suspension vertical stiffness improves vertical ride
 Increasing primary suspension lateral stiffness improves lateral ride
 Increasing primary suspension vertical damping improves vertical ride
 Increasing primary suspension lateral damping improves lateral ride
 Increasing wheel base improves vertical ride greatly and lateral ride to some extent.
Furthermore, the parametric analysis showed that car body mass, secondary suspension
vertical damping, primary suspension vertical damping and wheel base are the most
sensitive parameters influencing vertical ride. While lateral ride is significantly
influenced by car body mass, car body roll & yaw mass moment of inertia and secondary
suspension lateral stiffness.

49
5.2. Future works

Considering the work done and the conclusions mentioned above, the following works
can be proposed as future work directions.
 The rail vehicle model used in the simulation study comprises a rigid car body.
However; in order to get more accurate simulation results using more advanced
vehicle model with flexible car body instead of rigid body can be another point of
interest.
 The present parametric study analyzed the single ride performance index of the
railway vehicle i.e. ride behavior with respect to ride comfort and did not give any
information about other performance indices such as lateral stability, curve
negotiation ability, wear etc. The change in value of a particular parameter studied in
this work may improve ride behavior with respect to ride comfort but this may
deteriorate other performance indices; therefore, optimization of rail vehicle
parameters is an engineering problem which needs to be solved.
 Track parameters such as flexibility, mass, geometry etc. are not considered in the
current study but they do influence rail vehicle dynamics; therefore, the effect of track
parameters on rail vehicle dynamic behavior is another engineering problem which
needs to be studied.
 The effect of wind on ride behavior is not considered in the current study but it does
influence rail vehicle dynamics; therefore, the effect of wind on rail vehicle dynamic
behavior is another engineering problem which needs to be studied.

50
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modeling of rail vehicle safety and comfort in short radius curved tracks, C. R.

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2. Ali Erdem Atalay and Semih Sezer: Dynamic modeling and fuzzy logic control of

vibrations of a railway vehicle for different track irregularities, Simulation Modelling

Practice and Theory 19 (2011) 1873–1894.

3. Anneli Orvnas: Methods for reducing vertical car body vibrations of a rail vehicle,

report in railway technology (university press, KTH engineering sciences, department

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4. C.Sujatha, K. V. Gangadharan and V. Ramamurti, Experimental and Analytical Ride

Comfort Evaluation of a Railway Coach, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras,

Chennai, 600 036, India (Unpublished).

5. Dao Gong, Wenjing Sun, Jinsong Zhou and Xiaobo Xie: Analysis on the Vertical

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(2011), 825 – 831.

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Vibration 331 (2012) 4246–4258.

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7. Enrico Meli, Stefano Falomi and Monica Malvezzi: Multibody modeling of railway

vehicles: Innovative algorithms for the detection of wheel–rail contact points, Wear

271 (2011) 453–461.

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Vehicles Equipped with Air Springs, World Academy of Science, Engineering and

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Model to Study the Influence of Vertical Secondary Stiffness on Ride Comfort of

Railway Car body Running on Curved Tracks, Modern Applied Science, Vol. 5, No.

2; April 2011.

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1454-2358.

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53
Appendices

Appendix A. Vehicle design data

The design data of the rail vehicle are collected from SIMPACK model data base from
internet, i.e.WWW.simpack.com/modeldatabase/rail.

A.1 Rail vehicle

Geometry of a rail car and its design data are shown in figure A.1 and table A.2,
respectively.

Figure A.1: Geometry of passenger rail car

A.2 Conventional bogie

Geometry of a conventional bogie and its design data are shown in figure A.1 and table
A.1, respectively.

a)

54
 b)

Figure A.2: a) Geometry of conventional bogie, b) Dimension of bogie frame

Table A.1: Passenger rail car design characteristics

A.1.1: Rigid body design data
Area moments of inertia [Kg m2]
Center of gravity (m) Mass With respect to center of gravity
Rigid body (x, y, z)-relative to part [Kg] Ixx Iyy Izz
Car body 0,0,-1.8 32000 56,800 197e5 197e5
Bogie frame 0,0,-0.6 2615 1722 1476 3076
Wheel set 0,0,0 1813 1120 112 1120

A.1.2: Bogie frame dimensions

Dimension parameter Value [m]
Distance right left 2
L1 3.2
L2 1.2
H1 -0.6
H2 0.2
B1 0.25

55
A.1.3: Suspension design data
Damping Stiffness (N/m)
Component Stiffness/damping (Ns/m)
type dx dy dz cx cy cz
Primary spring Translational serial 1.5e4 2e3 0 6e7 75e5 0
(nom. Length Translational parallel 0 0 0 3.2e7 3.9e6 1.2e6
0.42m)
Primary damper vertical Figure A.3 0 0 6e5
(nom. Length
0.42m)
Secondary spring Shear spring with roll 1.6e5 1.6e5 4.3e5
(nom. Length & bending stiffnesses
0.605m) of
10500 Nm/rad
Secondary damper Vertical (0.605m) Figure A.4 0 0 6e6
Lateral (0.605m) Figure A.5 0 0 6e6
Bump stop Figure A.6
Antiroll bar rotational spring Rotational stiffness about x axis =
damper 940,000Nm/rad

56
Figure A.3: Primary damper vert. damping
Figure A.5: Secondary damper lat. damping

Figure A.4: Secondary damper vert. damping

Figure A.6: Lateral nonlinear stiffness
characteristics of bump stop

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Appendix B. Track data

B. 1 Rail excitation
The rail excitation used for the current study is a typical measured excitation, from
SIMPACK documentation, and is shown in figure B.1.

a)

b)
Figure B.1: Rail excitation: a) distance domain, b) distance frequency domain

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Appendix C: Wheel rail data

C.1 Rail
The left and right rails are made of UIC 60 and geometries of the rails are shown in
figures A.3 and A.4. The left and right UIC 60 rails are used with the following
parameters:
 Rail cant (1: n): 40
 Lateral rail distance: 0.753m

Figure C.1: Left rail profile Figure C.2: Right rail profile

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C.2 Wheel
The data for the wheels are S1002 wheel profile, as shown in figure C.2, with nominal
wheel radius of 0.46m, lateral wheel distance 0.75m and no un-trueness.

Figure C.3: Wheel profile

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C.3 Wheel rail contact data

The wheel rail data used in the current study are:

 Wheel rail material parameters:
 Young’s modulus: 202276800000 N/m^2
 Poisons number: 0.277
 Contact reference damping: 100000 Ns/m
 Friction coefficient: 0.4
 Equivalent conicity lambda: 0.186
 Roll angle coefficient sigma: 0.0372
 Contact angle coefficient epsilon: 15.81

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Appendix D: Parametric analysis results

The parametric analysis results of the rail vehicle from SIMPACK are shown below:

Figure D.1: Car body accelerations due to car body mass variation

62
Figure D.2: Car body accelerations due to car body Ixx variation

Figure D.3: Car body accelerations due to car body Iyy variation

63
 Figure D.4: Car body accelerations due to car body Izz variation

Figure D.5: Car body accelerations due to secondary spring lateral stiffness
variation

64
Figure D.6: Car body accelerations due to secondary spring vertical stiffness
variation

Figure D.7: Car body accelerations due to secondary damper lateral damping
variation

65
 Figure D.8: Car body accelerations due to secondary damper vertical damping
variation

Figure D.9: Car body accelerations due to primary spring lateral stiffness variation

66
Figure D.10: Car body accelerations due to primary spring vertical stiffness
variation

Figure D.11: Car body accelerations due to primary damper lateral damping
variation

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Figure D.12: Car body accelerations due to primary damper vertical damping
variation

Figure D.13: Car body accelerations due to bogie wheel base variation

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